The Noble Thing to Do
by eClair23
Summary: It's daunting, being asked to give a guest lecture in Albus Dumbledore's class at Hogwarts, but sometimes the hardest things to do are the right things.
1. Chapter 1

"Newt, I'm home!" Tina called to the empty cottage.

His reply was muffled. "In the case, dear!"

She shed her coat, depositing it on the coat rack as she made her way toward the case and climbed down the ladder carefully. She snaked her arms around Newt from behind, kissing him on the cheek. "Hey."

He turned around smiling, pulling her to him and kissing her soundly. "Hello yourself. How was work?"

She let her fingers brush his cheek ever so slightly as she pulled away. "It was good. Busy, but hopefully something will give soon."

He fiddled with his hands, looking down at the dirt under their feet.

"What's wrong?" She asked gently.

"Dumbledore wants me to give a guest lecture to his class at Hogwarts." He mumbled.

Her face lit up. "That's great! People are finally listening to what you have to say about these creatures."

"I've already drafted my letter of decline."

"Why?" Her face fell.

He seemed to draw into himself- his shoulders tensed and his posture slumped. "I don't do public speaking. I'll just make a mess out of the whole thing."

She grabbed his hand, running her thumb over it soothingly. "Let's put the kettle on and then we can talk about this over a cup of tea, hm?"

He squeezed her hand back. "Alright. Let me finish up with the mooncalves and I'll join you."


	2. Chapter 2

The teapot whistled just as Newt crossed the threshold into the shed. He watched as Tina carefully took it off the stove and poured them each a generous mug.

"So tell me about this speech." She motioned for him to sit on the porch with her.

"It really has nothing to do with his course material, but he requested that I talk to his Defense Against the Dark Arts class about my creatures."

"But you love talking about them, Newt."

"Yes, but not in front of all those people. Talking to you is different. You love the beasts, too. _They'll_ all wonder why I'm so… odd."

She took his hand across the table. "You're not the only one who's odd."

He nodded, trying for a smile but grimacing.

"You could bring the case and show the kids around…"

"I think that might be a bit more vulnerable than I'd like to be."

She squeezed his hand. "Okay."

"In all likelihood, the students won't be open to what I have to say about these creatures. The stigma against them is still so prominent…"

"Don't you see, Newt? That's exactly why I think you should do this. Someone's got to stand up for these creatures, and that's you. Do it for them." She gestured around the case.

"What if they don't listen?" He stared at the dirt beneath his feet.

"Then that's their problem, not yours. They can't choose to listen if you don't talk to them, though. Isn't that why you wrote your book? To help educate people about your creatures? Don't you think there are some people who hate that, too? Newt, regardless of what you do, how you defend these creatures, there will be someone who refuses to change their opinion. But isn't it worth it for the people who _do_ change, who want to hear what you have to say? Even if you just change one person's mind, it's worth the effort."

"I suppose." He conceded.

"I didn't always love the creatures like you. You changed my mind, remember? Not an easy feat."

"That is true," he conceded.

"I don't want to push you too hard, Newt, but I really do think this is a great opportunity for you."

He thought for a moment, running his thumb over her hand absentmindedly. "Alright."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded, smiling softly. "If I could convince you, how difficult can a bunch of kids be?"

She laughed, squeezing his hand and standing up. "How are the graphorns?"

"Improving. Molly looks like she'll be ready to give birth any day now. I'm keeping an eye on her."

She kissed his cheek. "I'm so proud of you."

Tina dropped her briefcase and shed her hat and coat, hearing Newt shuffling around in the study.

"Well, this is quite a change of pace for you." She commented as she walked into the study. "You working on the speech?"

He stood up to embrace her. "At the urging of my lovely wife, yes. I think it's nearly done."

She kissed his cheek. "I'm so proud of you, Newt."

"Dinner's on the stove. Let me finish this page and I'll be right there."

"That sounds wonderful. Mind letting me hear a little bit of it after dinner? I could be your test audience, you're welcome to try it out on me."

He smiled at her. "Sure."


	3. Chapter 3

The day finally came for Newt's presentation. His fear had never felt so insurmountable, but Tina gave his hand a squeeze as they walked through the front door of Hogwarts, and then it didn't seem quite so frightening with her by his side.

Dumbledore was waiting to greet them. He shook their hands cordially. "Newt. Tina. It's good to see you again."

"You as well, Professor." Tina said. "I never did thank you for your wedding gift."

"I feel every couple living in England needs a teapot. Remind me, how long has it been?"

"Coming up on a year," she beamed at Newt, interlacing their hands. Newt offered her a small smile, shifting his grip on her hand to try to stop himself from shaking.

Dumbledore gestured up the staircase to their right, already starting up the stairs. "Ready?"

Newt looked at Tina, panicked. His grip on the case tightened.

She held his hand a little tighter, speaking to him quietly. "We can do this, Newt. You're going to be great. If you get nervous, just look at me, okay? It'll be just like we're in the case."

He nodded, moving up the stairs. She followed.

Tina took a seat at the front of the classroom next to Newt, who set the case between them. The Nundu roared faintly inside. "Quiet, you," she hushed affectionately. "Settle down, now."

Dumbledore rose in front of the class. "Good morning, everyone. Today we have a guest speaker. He wrote one of your textbooks: _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. I'm honored and grateful to have Mr. Newt Scamander and his wife Tina here with us today. Newt, they're all yours." Tina ran a reassuring hand over Newt's back a couple times as he steadied his breathing. Dumbledore sat down on Tina's other side as Newt rose.

"Good morning, everyone." Newt stared at a spot above all of the students' heads, trying his best to look confident. "Thank you for that kind introduction, Professor Dumbledore. I'm, erm, I'm honored to be here. You're all third-years, yes?"

The students nodded.

"So I take it you've begun your Care of Magical Creatures class?"

More nods.

Newt smiled. "That was my favorite class when I was a student here. It spurred on my love for magical beasts. I hope some of you will feel the pull toward-toward magizoology, just as I did."

He glanced at Tina, who nodded encouragingly.

"I suppose I should give a bit of background. In 1918, I was asked to compile a book about magical creatures, a rather daunting task. At the time, I was working a desk job at the Ministry and, to be honest, I jumped at the chance to earn a bit more money. I spent nearly the next decade travelling the globe in search of new creatures to include in the book. In 1926, I travelled to New York in the hopes of releasing a thunderbird that I had recently rehabilitated-an American beast, quite majestic-and that's where I met my wife, Tina. I completed my book the next year, and I suppose the rest is history."

A student timidly raised her hand. "Is it true you captured Grindelwald?"

Newt's eyes widened and he looked at Tina. She nodded.

"That was one of my creatures, actually, not me." He paused for a moment for any follow-up questions, then continued. "In fact it was the creature I'm about to show you. This creature is called a swooping evil. He's much less intimidating than his name suggests, I assure you."

The students waited eagerly.

Tina opened the case carefully, extracting the swooping evil with now-practiced hands. She handed it to Newt. "Thank you, dear."

The creature's tail looped around Newt's finger and it swung back and forth a little. "He may not look like much, but his venom has highly powerful obliviatory powers, when diluted properly, of course."

Tina's eyes sparkled like she was hearing him talk about his beasts for the very first time. It never got old, hearing him so excited about his creatures.

"This one was injured when I found him, and I've been rehabilitating him ever since. Unfortunately, I don't believe he will be able to live on his own in the wild again."

Pickett poked his head out of Newt's breast pocket. Newt passed the swooping evil back to Tina, then allowed Pickett to clamber onto his hand.

"You see, people hurt these animals because they don't understand how to care for them correctly, or they see them as inferior. I wrote my book to try to help wizards gain a better understanding of the majesty and dignity of these creatures. We share the world with them. It's only right that we should treat them with kindness. Now, this here is a bowtruckle. They inhabit trees with wand-quality wood. Th-they also pick locks, and, erm…"

One of the boys in the back of the class snickered at his stutter, and for a moment, Newt couldn't find the courage to continue. He tried to restart a couple of times, but faltered. He looked desperately at Tina, who mimed taking a deep breath. He followed her example. _Breathe, then try again. It's okay._

 _They'd come up with this system relatively early on in their relationship. Newt had struggled with expressing his feelings toward her in the beginning, but she had been unfailingly patient with him. He got frustrated every time he stumbled over a word or phrase and couldn't quite get himself out of that cycle. She reminded him to breathe, then start again. The first time he'd said "I love you", he tried valiantly to get the words out in one fell swoop, but his voice betrayed him and his face had sunk into his hands, mortified. She had placed a gentle hand on his arm and said,_

" _Take your time, Newt. I'm not in a rush."_

 _Her patience truly was something to behold. He knew he was not an easy man to love, and yet here she was, refusing to pressure him into rushing himself._

" _How about we take a deep breath together and start again. How does that sound?"_

 _He'd nodded, breathing in sync with her several times. Once he'd calmed down (she truly was a miracle-worker), the words seemed to come much more easily. She'd grinned and said she loved him too, and she'd kissed him like she could never get enough of him._

Now, Tina gave him a small smile. _You're doing great_.

He breathed in once more and began again. "So, you see, bowtruckles are incredibly skilled at picking locks-hence the name Pickett for this one." Pickett struck a pose, enjoying the attention. Tina stifled a giggle at Pickett's antics.

The sound of shuffling as the students began to pack up reverberated through the stone classroom. Newt checked his watch. "It looks as if we have run out of time," Newt sounded relieved. "Thank you all for your attention. I hope you gained a little appreciation for these beautiful beasts with whom we share our world." He shuffled back to sit next to Tina.

"Class dismissed!" Dumbledore announced. The students dispersed.

Dumbledore shook Newt's hand before following the students through the door.

Tina pulled him into a hug. "You were fantastic."

Newt shook his head. "That was disastrous. I couldn't seem to get the words out right for a moment there, and they were all staring at me… I've let you all down."

Tina kissed him hard. "You could never let your beasts down, and certainly never me. The kids were staring at you because they were fascinated, not because they thought anything of it. I am so proud of you for speaking up for them," she motioned to the case.

He gave her a half-hearted smile as he lifted the case off of the floor. "Thank you, dear."


	4. Chapter 4

One of the students from Dumbledore's class poked her head back in the door. Tina recognized her as one of the students who had seemed positively enraptured with Newt's creatures. "Mister Scamander?" She said shyly.

Newt's eyes popped up to meet hers. "Yes?"

"I, erm, I wanted to say thank you. For coming to talk to us today."

"Oh, I see."

"I read your book over the summer. I loved it. My favorite was the bit about the niffler."

"Really? My niffler's quite the troublemaker."

"Yes, they can be rather mischievous, can't they? One of my friends tried to keep one as a pet, once. It was disastrous." She giggled quietly.

Newt chuckled along with her. "I can imagine."

"They don't make good household pets," Tina chimed in. "As we've learnt the hard way at times." She smiled at the girl good-naturedly. "What's your name?"

"I'm Charlotte."

"It's nice to meet you. You can call me Tina."

"And you may call me Newt, if you'd like." Newt offered.

"Mr… Newt, would you mind signing my copy of your book?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "Of course."

"When I come of age, I want to work with magical creatures, too. I want to create a place where I can rehabilitate the injured ones and help people learn about them. Sort of like a zoo."

"That sounds lovely, Charlotte. I'd love to come see your zoo someday." Newt signed her book with a flourish- _To Charlotte-Your enthusiasm for these creatures is wonderful. I am honored that you have read my book and discovered an interest in magizoology. Should you decide to pursue that interest, please write me if you have any questions or would like some hands-on experience. -Newt Scamander_. He'd included their address at the bottom.

Charlotte beamed. "Thank you so much, Mr. Newt."

"It was a pleasure talking to you, Charlotte."

"Best of luck with your studies." Tina added.

"Good-bye!" She closed the door of the classroom behind her again.

Tina grinned at Newt. "Look what your book accomplished, Newt. That little girl wants to be just like you when she grows up. Things are already changing. You changed them."

He smiled softly. "You were right. It's worth it even if only one person listens."

She kissed him gently. "I knew you could do it. You did a lovely job up there."

"I love you."

"I love you, too. And I'm so proud of you. Now let's go home and take care of these fantastic beasts before they get too hungry."


End file.
